Awake at 6. In the car and on the way to the airport at 7. The start of a very long day - 22 hours until we were in bed again.
Because the airport is in the border of Switzerland and France, it makes things at there rather complicated. We had to return the rental car to the Swiss side but had trouble finding it. The absence of any signage certainly didn't help. Once we were back at the Hertz location, Dave was breathing easier. It's quite stressful at times - being in a foreign location and not speaking the language. Since we were flying back with Air France, we had to go to the French side of the airport - after parking the car on the Swiss side. 😕
Check-in was a breeze - even though I wasn't able to pre-check the day before. Due to Dave's "gold medallion status" - with Delta, who's a partner with Air France - we were allowed to wait for our plane in the Air France lounge. A first for us! We had a free breakfast and sat in comfy chairs until it was time to go to our gate.
The flight to Paris was smooth but a bit late. The gate for the flight to Chicago was quite a ways away from our arrival gate. The plan was that Dave would run ahead and hold the plane - if needed - which it wasn't. While the gate was in the same terminal - a huge one - it was a far bit of running to get there. The flight had actually started to board just as our first flight was landing. We made it - which was a huge relief. I did wonder how they were going to get our suitcase over to the Chicago bound plane in time.
We left Paris shortly after 1 pm and arrived in Chicago at 9 pm - 3 pm local time. The flight was smooth but long. Neither of us got out of our seats for the whole flight. It felt really good to stand up.
The line for customs was incredibly long due to a couple of full flights arriving at the same time. There were literally hundreds of people waiting to go through customs. We snaked through the line for almost an hour. At all times, there were four or so agents there but not taking any people. Why that was remains a mystery. Once we got to the agent, it was a couple of questions and we were on our way to get our suitcase. It had been well over an hour since we landed so we weren't sure where the bag would be at that point. Not in Chicago, that's where.
The plan was to get an Uber to where we parked our car. We ended up taking a taxi - watching the meter go up as we sat at red lights. The car was still there - we were a bit concerned about this. It took us almost four hours to get home. A very long time after an already very long day.
We were home and in bed by 10 pm - 4 am for our brains and bodies. It's good to be home. It was an amazing trip. We had many new experiences and created lots of delightful, and some less so, memories. Now it's time to reconnect with the kids and grandkids and pick up our everyday lives at home.
One thing I learned today: Air France's food is not good. The main meal was supposably pasta but it looked like fish eggs and had a gluey texture. It had nothing to offer. Dave got a Heineken and even that didn't taste good. However, the celery and carrot sandwich - who knew this was a kind of sandwich? - was a pleasant surprise. The freshness of the roll had a lot to do with it.
One new thing I experienced today: How to deal with "lost" luggage. Due to a far too short layover between flights, and the fact that our flight from Geneve was 15 minutes late - doesn't sound like much but it sure made a difference - our checked bag didn't get on the plane to Chicago. We had to find the guy who processed the paperwork and get that in order. The bag will be put on the next flight to Chicago and couriered to us. (If we lived 200 miles or less from the airport, we were expected to pick it up.) Here's hoping it makes it. There are a lot of things in that bag we don't want to loose.
Most powerful moment of the day: Getting into bed after being up and traveling for 22 hours. Our own bed with our pillows. So, so great!
One pleasurable experience: Seeing signs in English. I was reading many of the signs and billboards on the way home. It was so nice to be able to read, and understand, them.
By the numbers:
We drove: 1,317 miles
Churches visited: 5
Castles visited: 4
Countries visited: 5 - Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Austria, Germany, and France
Modes of transportation: 5 - train, gondola, plane, taxi, and car
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